Newsreel Footage: April 19, 1939. Hitler cancels the German-Polish non-aggression pact.

In the cosmopolitan Polish city of Lwów, life is awakening under the warm spring sun: Flowers are blooming, children playing, girls laughing on the street – and 18-year-old high school senior JANEK BYSZEWSKI is engulfed with a new "invention” in his homemade chemistry lab.

At the same time, the lecture hall in the Department of Biology at the University of Lwów is filling with students. With the assistance of PAWEL KOPECKI, 24, the internationally renowned PROFESSOR WEIGL demonstrates how he produces typhus vaccine using lice, a discovery that can stop the worldwide feared disease. Eager to be a credit to the mentor he admires, Pawel performs with impressive speed, injecting the typhus bacteria into 50 tiny immobilized lice.

While she rehearses her role as Puccini’s “Tosca”, the opera diva TERESA BYSZEWSKA, 43, rushes up the stairs of her imposingly furnished grand bourgeois home, past the Ukrainian worker PIOTR OLESZCZUK, who is painting the banister. She doesn't even deign to look at him.

Imperiously, she enters Janek's room and orders him to pick up his sister Irena who is spending the afternoon at Jola’s, daughter of Mr. Kopecki the pharmacist. But Janek doesn’t want to go because he cannot interrupt his experiment. His argument: “I’m going to win the Nobel Prize in Science for Poland one day” doesn’t impress his mother in the least. She never takes “no” for an answer.

Descending the stairs, Teresa brushes her dress against the fresh paint. She screams and angrily scolds Piotr for not having warned her. Piotr resents her arrogant behavior and bitterly mumbles that the days of Polish harassment are numbered. In response Teresa laughs haughtily and stalks away, her thin metal high heels striking the polished floor – sounding like the TICKING of a time bomb.

Weigl’s lecture is over. Pawel crosses the university campus. A small group of militant Polish nationalist students are putting up posters demanding a reduction in the number of Jewish students. Pawel starts a heated argument with one of the students calling him an intolerant fool who hasn’t learned anything from history.

The "jewel" of the Byszewski household, Polish housemaid HANIA, buys ingredients for this evening's "première dinner" from the Ukrainian farmer’s wife WANDA KRANIK at the local market. They know each well and exchange recipes – and the latest gossip.

Meanwhile Janek enters the "Kopecki Pharmacy". His bad mood dissipates as soon as he sees the porcelain jars filled with chemical substances. Janek sighs and smiles blissfully. MISTER KOPECKI approaches him and is pleased to notice the young man's impressive knowledge of chemistry. He gives Janek protected sodium as a gift for his "experiment" before he sends him to the girls who are in the Kopecki apartment upstairs.

There Janek only finds Jola’s brother Pawel studying biochemistry. When Janek learns that Pawel is Professor Weigl’s research assistant, he eagerly asks how he can get a job in Weigl’s institute. Pawel just laughs at the naïve idea that an undergraduate could ever be considered for such a prestigious position. Janek feels ashamed and is relieved to hear his sister’s laughter coming from outside the apartment. He abruptly leaves Pawel. In the staircase Janek sees three laughing girls running into the apartment upstairs. He climbs the steps and rings the bell. The beauty of 16-year-old NINA HELLER takes him by surprise as she opens the door and makes him blush. Nina grins arrogantly, making things even worse. Upset about his own awkwardness, Janek quickly walks past her, JOLA and his sister IRENA to greet Nina's father BENJAMIN HELLER who emerges from his study very disturbed. He had just been listening to one of Hitler's incendiary speeches in the radio and needs to discuss the imminent danger of Poland’s future. The room turns silent and the eyes are on Janek. But Janek obviously has little interest and knowledge in politics. This earns him a disgusted comment from Nina. Janek is feeling increasingly uncomfortable. What makes matters worse is that he now notices that he is in a Jewish home. Now he is in a hurry to leave. Outside, on the street he reproaches his sister for “befriending Jews.” The two argue all the way home.

To Irena’s surprise, Janek suddenly becomes very friendly when they meet up with their father, STEFAN BYSZEWSKI at the opera premiere. As a doting father and close friend of Weigl Janek wants Stefan to help him get a job in the professor’s institute. Janek tries to win his father’s compassion by telling him about Pawel’s unacceptable behavior. To his disappointment, Stefan not only won’t listen to his son's plea for help but also gives him an elaborate speech on how using personal connections is immoral and an abuse of friendship.

After her successful performance of Tosca in the "Teatr Wielki " opera house Teresa arrives home with her two flirtatious Italian singing partners where the family, Professor Weigl, and the family physician, DR. ROZWALDOWSKI and friends are awaiting to celebrate the première’s success. After Hania's extravagant meal the guests take coffee in the salon, where politics dominate the conversation. Teresa uses the festive occasion to announce that Janek, in accordance with family tradition, will enroll in the reserve officers’ school. Janek, who is afraid of guns - but also of his mother - flees the room. In the hall he sees Weigl flirting with a woman from the music ensemble. Seeing this as his only chance, Janek decides to act. He walks up to the professor, and bluntly asks for a job at the institute. Weigl half-heartedly promises to see what he can do. Stefan is terribly embarrassed over this incidence. Confident and emboldened Janek tells the guests that he’s going to study at Lwów University this fall because he “rather do scientific research for Poland than die on the field.” Teresa can’t believe her ears.

The next morning Janek silently endures his mother as she airs her anger for his insolent behavior. When his sister takes Teresa’s side, Janek retorts by revealing Irena’s “new Jewish friend.” Teresa will not tolerate any “socially unacceptable” friends. Upset, Irena runs out of the room and takes revenge on her brother by emptying the mysterious-looking contents of his test tubes into the flowerpot. A few days later Janek's gets back at his sister when he uses her once passionately loved doll house to demonstrate how effective his homemade bomb made with Mr. Kopecki’s sodium gift is. The explosion is a success; even Pawel is deeply impressed.

But Janek has to pay a high price for his “scientific” triumph: instead of spending his first summer alone at home, he is punished by now having to spend his vacation with his family in Jurata on the Hel peninsula. And to make things worse: Irena’s girl-friend Jola is coming along.

Summer 1939 at the Bay of Gdansk couldn’t be more wonderful for Irena and Jola. The weather and the beach are marvelous; Stefan and Teresa drive in the evening to the famous Zoppot Casino to dance on the illuminated glass floor. Only Janek, who has erotic dreams of Jola at night, spends all the time in his room studying. He tries very hard to ignore Jola in her flowered bathing suit and to remind himself that he must win his secret contest with Pawel.

Stefan seems to be the only one who is getting increasingly worried about the political situation in Europe. Sensing danger from Germany a few miles away he decides to return to Lwów one week earlier than planned. Despite Teresa's angry protests and the girls’ tears, Stefan orders Hania to pack the bags. They leave the Baltic on August 25, 1939, just a few days before the Nazi attack. The only person happy to be returning home is Janek. He can hardly wait until the semester finally begins.

Newsreel Footage: September. 1, 1939. Hitler's troops invade Poland. Lwów is bombarded.

The city is in a state of emergency. Stefan prepares the air raid cellar while Teresa takes over command and sends Hania and the children out to buy supplies.

Newsreel Footage: During the first week of September Poland is confident things will improve, especially after France and England declare war on Germany.

The opera is closed because of the war, but the annual International Eastern Fair in Lwów opens. The frequent air raids don’t deter Teresa from dressing up and going to the fair to buy luxury goods such as smoked salmon, Hungarian salami, or Belgian chocolate from foreign merchants getting increasingly nervous and eager to get rid of their goods.

Newsreel Footage: The Germans bomb Lwów. There are air raids day and night.

Each bomb makes Janek shudder. He dreads nothing more than those unbearable hours crouched together with his family in the cellar. Janek hides his fear behind books and studies day and night. Teresa doesn’t miss an opportunity to demonstrate her contempt towards Janek’s coward and unpatriotic behavior. One day, he can’t stand this claustrophobic environment anymore and goes out on the street, despite the warnings. He barely survives an explosion, and then panics when he sees a corpse for the first time.

Newsreel Footage: By the third week of September, the Polish army is still trying to stop the German advance, but when the Soviet army invades Poland from the East, the Polish defense crumbles. They retreat southwards to Rumania and Hungary. Tragically, Stalin's forces intercept them, incarcerating, and later killing tens of thousands of Polish officers, policemen and civil servants.

Teresa is disillusioned, yet she still hopes the western allies will rescue Poland. But when she learns that her parents have died in an air raid, she personally declares war against “Poland’s enemies” and turns the family home into a “shelter for refugees and the persecuted.” Dr. Rozwaldowski, whose house had been damaged by a bomb, is the first to move in. Irena is ordered to move in with Janek who is forced to pack up his laboratory to make space. A few days later he is ordered to move out of his room and put his mattress next to the piano in the living room where his now unemployed father is already sleeping on the couch. Janek is very upset and feels unwanted at home where Teresa rules like a “general” and orders everyone around. He therefore goes to the Typhus Research Institute, to remind Weigl of his promise.

Unfortunately, Weigl has no time for him. He is sent to Pawel who grins slyly and offers to his eager young friend a job as a “human lice feeder.” Pawel straps several "lice cages" to Janek’s legs and tells him to sit for 45 minutes while lice in the cages suck his blood through the fine mesh. This method developed by Professor Weigl makes it possible to produce a highly effective typhus vaccine. Janek feels nauseous, especially when he learns that skin redness and allergic reactions are the accepted side effects. Pawel’s comment – that the elimination of these reactions is the current focus of his research – reminds Janek of his goal to become a famous scientist. To Pawel’s surprise, white-faced Janek accepts the job.

Newsreel Footage: September 22, 1939. The Red Army marches into Lwów. Ragged Soviet soldiers sing a call to the population to rise up “against feudalism” to rid themselves of the “Polish oppressors."

Janek's enlarged "family" watches from the window as the Red Army march into the city. They detect their housepainter Piotr cheering on the street. All are in shock, except for Teresa who is in a rage watching the arrival of all these "primitives." Afraid of losing his property and possessions, Dr. Rozwaldowski packs his bags to protect his house.

Newsreel Footage: The situation in Lwów changes: The shelves in the stores are empty, and the city swells with Polish and Jewish refugees from the western half of Poland, now occupied by Nazi Germany.

Among the fugitives are Janek's TWO FRAIL AUNTS from Radom. Teresa immediately offers them room. Irena reluctantly accepts her fate as the family's "black market specialist", constantly on the go finding food for all those "finicky" stomachs.

The valuable family treasures gradually disappear from the walls, cupboards, and the safe as Irena goes out to exchange them for groceries. In return she hungrily accepts Stefan’s constant praise and recognition for her unstinting efforts. It breaks his heart to see her smile replaced by a worried frown.

Janek seems to be completely oblivious to all these changes at home– he is happy to be "promoted" to "lice injector". He spends the rest of his time studying to pass a new additional university entrance examination imposed by the Soviets.

Although Janek has to get more points as a "bourgeois," he passes the entrance exam. Ecstatic he hurries home, but to his great disappointment, no one has time to share his joy. He drops a porcelain bowl to show his frustration. The family members stare at the broken pieces: Irena could have bartered a one-week’s supply in food with this bowl.

Feeling unwanted and unloved, Janek seeks solace in the institute’s lab. There he finds Weigl’s wife Sybila wandering around with a warm cooked meal for her late-working husband – but who isn’t there. Janek likes this kind shy woman who is so completely unlike his mother. Sybila notices Janek’s hungry stare and gives him Weigl’s dinner. Devouring the food, Janek tells her about his heartless family. Sybila is confused and she absentmindedly caresses his hair. After his last bite, Janek hugs her, happy to have found someone who understands him.

Confronted with new groups of Russian scientists arriving at his institute every day, Weigl desperately needs a translator. He seeks help from Stefan, who was forced to learn Russian when Poland was divided and his town was under Russian occupation, and offers him a job as his personal interpreter. Stefan can’t believe his luck. Not only will this work guarantee his family’s safety, it will give him something sensible to do and get him out of his house. Stefan is so happy that he doesn't know how to express his gratitude.

Janek is also thrilled to have his father in the institute; he relentlessly tries to impress his father with his research in search to regain parental love and attention.

In February 1940, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Ukraine, NIKITA CHRUSHCHEV, visits Weigl. Behind closed doors, Chrushchev offers Weigl his own institute in Moscow with full privileges and unlimited research opportunities. Fearing his safe-haven disappear, Stefan for once sets his high principles aside and lies. He "adulterates" the translation of the generous offer. In response, Weigl not only flatly turns down Chrushchev’s offer, he also demands official protection from arrests and deportation for his entire staff and their families. This bold response comes to Stefan as a shock he breaks out into a sweat and stutters as he translates Weigl’s words, fearing the worst. To his astonishment, Chrushchev doesn’t explode – but accepts the professor’s demands, on certain conditions.

While Stefan falls ill from shame for his egotistical behavior, Janek, inspired by Weigl’s courage and dedication to the institute, doubles his efforts in his research project and works hard to impress his infallible idol. One day he discovers what he thinks might be a method for isolating the healthy from the sick lice. He rushes into Weigl’s office, where he is shocked to see Weigl passionately kissing his always-present, beautiful 25-year-old assistant ANNA BALINOWNA. Without being noticed, he quickly closes the door. Janek is appalled of what he just saw. Although highly agitated, he is convinced that the professor can’t be blamed for this scandal. It’s obvious that Anna seduced him!

Newsreel Footage: In March 1940, heavy trucks roll through the street late at night, their sinister rumble adding to the occupied city's gloom.

While Janek pulls his pillow over his head and tries to sleep, the other family members gather in the dark at the window. Dr. Rozwaldowski had been arrested a few days ago and one aunt cries that they will be the next. Teresa aggressively tells her to shut up.

One truck stops in front of the Kopecki pharmacy. Soldiers enter the house. Shortly return with Mr. Kopecki who is shoved onto the truck at gunpoint.

The news of Mr. Kopecki’s arrest sparks panic in everyone. Pawel can’t hide his fear and turns to Weigl for help. The professor relentlessly uses his connections to get his father out of prison, but to no avail. In addition, Weigl tries to keep the Soviet visitors as far away as possible from Pawel. Janek watches how even the sound of Russian makes it very difficult for Pawel to restrain his anger.

Newsreel Footage: In the early Spring of 1940, Poles are issued new (Soviet) identity cards, so-called passports – as a result of the Soviet-organized "fake" elections in the Fall of 1939 in which all citizens supposedly voted to become Soviet citizens.

Teresa stands in a long line in front of the government office furious about this humiliation. When an official in Soviet militiaman in uniform hands her the hated document with a cynical comment, she looks at him more closely and recognizes the former housepainter Piotr Oleszczuk. Teresa loses control and insults him.

One week later the Byszewskis are informed that they are to be evicted and resettled to a rural area. Fearing the worst, Teresa panics and begs Stefan to ask Weigl for help. Stefan has no other choice but put his principles aside again. But thanks to Weigl's efforts and influence, the official directive is revoked. Janek is aware of how Stefan suffers to stand in someone's debt – and promises to “make up for it in his father’s name.”

The situation in the Byszewski home worsens the day the Russian VLADIMIR ZABUTIN arrives to become director of the Typhus Institute and moves into their house. Weigl, who thus no longer can justify a personal translator, quickly creates a new job for Stefan as "head of the institute car pool." Grateful to have any job at all, Stefan does his best to make the most of this far less challenging work.

Janek persists in doing his utmost to ignore the war and the atrocities going on around him. He is pleased to see that, after one semester, he has grown more confident through his successes at the university and in the laboratory. It’s only Nina’s presence that makes him nervous and gets him all flustered.

Newsreel Footage: In the night of April 11/12 NKVD trucks are drive through the street.

This night Janek can’t block out the sound of the trucks rumbling by.

The Kopecki family is sitting in one of the trucks. All around them people are crying and shivering in sub-zero temperatures. They and many others are brought to the freight yard and shoved into unheated cattle cars where they spend three days without food and water before being taken on an unfathomable journey to Kazakhstan 40% of them will not survive.

When Pawel doesn’t arrive at work the next day, panic overcomes Janek. He rushes to their house. The apartment is locked. He finds Nina crying in the attic. Under tears she tells him that the Kopeckis were deported last night. Overwhelmed by the tragedy, he takes Nina into his arms and holds her tight.

The deportation of the Kopecki family throws Janek off balance. Feeling helpless and lost, he hopes to find relief of some sort from Nina. Afraid of his mother, he doesn’t tell anyone about his visit to her. But the intimacy brought about by tragedy evaporates very quickly. Janek is unable to deal with Nina’s emotions, fears and suffering. He leaves her, ashamed to have disappointed her hopes that this terrible event had finally broken his inexplicable indifference and passiveness.

Janek retreats to the sterile and peaceful environment of the institute where he tries to forget his pain by doing what he knows best: concentrate on his research. Weigl desperately uses all his contacts to get the Kopeckis back, but Kazakhstan is very far away. In order to gets things back to normal, Weigl tactfully assigns Janek to fill Pawel’s position. Janek is only too glad to have more work and is very proud to be made Weigl’s first assistant – but unfortunately second to Anna.

Newsreel Footage: In late April 1940, a German resettlement commission arrives in Lwów to repatriate ethnic Germans under the slogan "Heim ins Reich," as well as Poles from the western part of Poland who want to return home.

Nina's parents are aghast to hear that her UNCLE DAVID has put his name on the list of "volunteer re-immigrants." Like many other applying Jews, he doesn't want to believe the gruesome rumors about Hitler’s intentions. All he knows is that he wants to get away from the Soviet inhumanity and from Poles who are increasingly displaying hatred towards Jewish Poles. Like his brother-in-law Benjamin, David – who considers himself a Pole – suffers under the prejudice of many Poles that all Jews are collaborating with the Soviet occupiers.

The commission rejects almost all applications from Jews. David is one of them and disappointed that he is not sent "back home to the Reich." As soon as the Nazi commission leaves, the Soviets obtain the list of applicants and deport them, David included, to Kazakhstan instead. The Hellers are in shock.

Newsreel Footage: A few weeks later the situation in Lwów changes. The Soviets begin arresting Ukrainian nationalists.

Teresa rejoices to hear that the former housepainter Piotr is among thousands of Ukrainians who are incarcerated in prisons, already hopelessly overcrowded by Poles.

Janek gets his moment of happiness when he learns that Weigl’s efforts have finally materialized and Pawel has returned from Kazakhstan. He drops everything and rushes to Nina’s home, only to find Pawel and Nina's parents weeping. He learns that Pawel's father had died in prison. Pawel himself is in such poor physical condition that he requires other people's aid. Since the Kopecki home is occupied by a Soviet officer, Janek immediately offers to share his home and everything else he owns to his "best friend." Pawel weekly accepts.

Newsreel Footage: June 22, 1941. Hitler's Luftwaffe bombs the Soviet-occupied territories of Poland, triggering the withdrawal of the Soviets. Before they finally leave the city, they massacre 12,000 Lwowians.

As soon as the terror passes, Janek and Pawel move into the former Kopecki home that has just been vacated by the Soviet officer. Irena is outraged when she hears the news. She feels abandoned by her brother. Nevertheless, she emphatically turns down his offer to join them, because she can’t leave her father with alone with her mother.

Newsreel Footage: Shortly afterward, Austrian Gebirgsjäger march into Lwów, followed three days later by the Gestapo who call for the destruction of the "Bolshevist Jews." They are greeted by Ukrainians who now take revenge and factories, warehouses and Jewish homes.

Pawel falls seriously ill. Constant pain keeps him tied to the bed. Worried about Nina’s fate, Janek decides to visit her and her family.

This time when Nina opens the door, Janek is startled to see her scared. For the first time Janek feels he needs to protect her. Ignoring the possible consequences, he spontaneously proposes Nina and her parents to seek refuge in his family’s home where they would be safe. The Hellers turn down his offer, bravely claiming that normal life has to return any moment.

Newsreel Footage: Three days after their arrival, on July 3^rd, the SS Einsatzgruppe arrests and executes 40 university professors the same night as well as some of their families. Under German occupation, high schools, institutions of higher learning, and universities are closed.

Weigl manages to have the Typhus Institute officially placed under the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces. This status enables him to acquire work identification papers for his employees, which will protect them from arrests and worse. Unfortunately, Stefan loses his position in the car pool. But before Weigl can think of a new solution, Stefan reluctantly joins the many unemployed professors and other intellectuals seeking security as "lice feeders." To protect as many people as possible, Weigl expands his institute, turning it into a regular production site.

Janek sees his life in peace come to an end when he discovers Wehrmacht soldiers in the institute. Behind closed doors, WEHRMACHT OFFICER COLONEL HARTIG M.D., makes Weigl an even more tempting offer than Chrushchev had before him. Weigl is quite aware that Hartig could bring him "back home to the Reich" by force, if necessary. Nevertheless, Moravian-born Weigl uses his Austrian charm to dissuade Hartig from his plans. He makes it clear that he is willing to cooperate with the Germans, but not to leave Lwów. Secretly listening in on their conversation, Janek is once again baffled by the professor’s courage. Again, he got his way and Janek knows: there is no greater hero than Weigl.

Thanks to the "new staff" the institute turns into a truely intellectual center. The "academic lice feeders" often get involved in such interesting discussions that they forget to take off the feeding cages and the lice intestines burst from overfeeding. Janek has more than plenty of work but he doesn’t mind. Sometimes the professors ask him to join them in their very active participation in the resistance. But Janek refuses. He claims he has no time and his work project has top priority.

At home he tells Pawel how much he hates Anna, whom he considers an obstacle to his research and career and asks Pawel to go to Weigl and put in a good word for him. Pawel concedes but when the professor reveals that Anna and other lice feeders are risking their lives smuggling the “illegally produced vaccine surplus” to the Jewish ghettos and the needy all over the country, he can only support his mentor’s stance.

But Janek doesn’t want to hear stories about Anna and is deeply disappointed and accuses Pawel of being ungrateful and "betraying their friendship."

Janek is hopeful when the next day Weigl calls him into his office and closes the door. To Janek's disappointment, the professor only wants to talk about the ghettos the Germans have set up for the Jews and then asks him if he would be willing to carry vaccine to the Warsaw ghetto where a typhus epidemic is raging. Janek realizes that this is the only way to win back Weigl’s attention, and half-heartedly agrees.

Janek regrets this decision as soon as he boards the train. The trip to Warsaw seems endless, and his constant fear of document controls leaves him exhausted. When he finally passes the packet on to his contact, he feels enormously relieved and, he has to admit, quite proud.

Having still a few hours to kill before his return, he walks around the city. Curiosity takes him to the gate of the ghetto. There he is shocked to see an old Jewish man brutally beaten and led away by an SS man.

This scene is so terrible that Janek can’t forget it. After a night full of nightmares, he timidly confesses to Weigl that he is poorly suited for such tasks. In the evening he makes up with Pawel, since he desperately needs a friend to talk to.

Newsreel Footage: Officers and soldiers from the Italian Army, which is allied with the Germans, are deployed in Lwów

This event brings a pleasant change in Teresa's life. Her yearning for the good old days, and her knowledge of Italian, quickly helps her build a bridge to the charming and lively occupiers. She decides to throw a party – the first since the war began.

The Italian officers bring almost forgotten delicacies. Some of them also have their local mistresses with them. Teresa tries to ignore these socially inadequate courtesans, especially since she knows that two of them are Jewish. She does let a remark slip in passing. Stefan and Irena can only stare at the floor in embarrassment. Janek is no longer willing to tolerate his mother’s behavior but can’t find the courage to speak up. Instead, he stands up and, assisting Pawel, demonstratively leaves the party.

Back at the Kopecki home, it becomes clear that Janek doesn’t have much time for his ill friend. His research is at a critical point. As a result, while Janek spends his day taking care of the lice infected with bacteria, Nina spends many hours happily with her so-called "brother." Janek gets jealous when he sees the two deeply involved in emotional discussions as they dream of joining the resistance movement.

When he comes home one evening and surprises Nina toying with Pawel, he loses control and orders her to leave the apartment. Pawel intervenes and tries to correct Janek’s distorted view of women. He admits that if it weren’t for Nina, he would have killed himself a long time ago because he’s a worthless cripple. Unwilling to accept this explanation, Janek refuses to go to Nina and excuse himself for his behavior.

Newsreel Footage: The Germans deport all Jews to the Ghetto of Lwów.

Nina is so embittered by this that she refuses to say good-bye to her friends. Her departure throws Janek and Pawel into deep depression. Janek is overcome by guilt and now deeply regrets his earlier conduct. But it is too late.

Pawel complains about the increasing pains and begs Janek to obtain morphine for him. Helpless, Janek turns to his sister Irena, the "black market expert." She cynically asks whether she should help a brother who left her all alone at home. Janek guiltily promises to spend time with the family – as soon as Pawel feels better.

But unfortunately, Pawel's situation gets worse. When an eyewitness tells him how miserably Jola and her mother died of hunger and cruel abuse in a kolkhoz on the steppes of Kazakhstan, he no longer can find anything positive in life.

Unable to help his friend, Janek escapes into his work again while Pawel retreats into intoxication. The day Janek achieves a breakthrough in his research project, he can’t wait to hurry home and tell Pawel. But as he opens the door he finds his friend sprawled on the floor – dead from of a morphine overdose. Janek is under severe shock as he watches his only friend’s body being carried out on a stretcher.

It is Pawel's death that finally brings about a change in Janek's life. After a sleepless night, he meets secretly with a man from the underground Polish Home Army (A.K.) and asks to join the resistance movement.

He still works at the institute, but his research is no longer the center of his world. He has given up his obsessive ambition and even finds himself talking with and working for Anna. Weigl entrusts him with more responsibility, but this no longer is important to Janek. The work in the resistance movement absorbs his entire interest. He feels how the pain of losing his friend gradually turns into rage and displaces his fear.

As a talented draftsman, Janek is ordered to sketch the railroad lines leading to the Belzec concentration camp, 90 kilometers away. He grasps this opportunity to fulfill his promise and takes Irena on a leisurely trip to Belzec.

After a picnic Janek proposes to draw Irena. While his unsuspecting sister poses as a model, Janek in reality makes a detailed drawing of the concentration camp behind her. Assuming that Irena – and his mother – will be proud of Janek’s active resistance against the enemy, he reveals his underground activities. To his utter surprise, instead of being enthusiastic, Irena gets angry. She accuses him of abandoning her and tells him it’s his obligation to come home, especially now that their father has fallen sick. Janek is shocked to learn his father has cancer. Nonetheless, it only confirms his belief that he can’t come home since it would endanger the family. Irena considers this an excuse and calls him a heartless egotist. Janek has never felt more misunderstood and they part in a fight.

Back in Lwów, Janek tries to forget his family. His activities require complete concentration. But one night, as Janek witnesses two Polish "saboteurs" being shot by a German soldier on the other side of the road, he loses control. His fear of guns makes him turn and run away. The soldier notices this and shoots, hitting Janek in the shoulder. He still manages to escape: He can think of no better place to hide than his parents' garage. Fortunately, Hania discovers him. To Janek’s great surprise, his beloved Hania reveals that she has been working for the resistance for years.

With Hania's assistance, Janek is brought to the cottage of her partisan friend, Wanda Kranik, on the fringe of the woods. After the Soviets killed her husband, the Ukrainian peasant woman has dedicated herself in saving the lives of many partisans of the Polish Home Army. While Janek recovers, he learns about their struggle in the woods. On the one hand, he admires their determination under such difficult conditions, making his achievements suddenly appear trivial. But he also realizes how trivial their sacrifices are in this unequal struggle, whereas his research can help millions dying of typhus. As soon as he is well, he decides to return to Lwów when suddenly, Nina appears before him in partisan clothes. When she persuades him – "the bombmaker” – to stay with them in the forest, Janek feels that she was sent to him on purpose. Regardless, seeing Nina alive again fills him with so much relief and joy that he is willing to do anything. He delays his return to the city.

Spurred by Nina's courage and fighting spirit, Janek performs deeds he would never have dreamt of before and finally realizes that his feelings for her are actually love. He is overwhelmed and reveals this to Nina – but she rejects. Ever since her father was killed in an organized attempt to flee the Lwów ghetto and she saw her mother being shot, Nina has been afraid of becoming close to anyone.

Next to his love for Nina, Janek also bonds with three partisans, and specifically with LESZEK, who later saves his life when he blows up a German supply train. This is the moment Nina realizes that her painful fear for Janek is a sign of love.

Newsreel Footage: As the Germans retreat, the partisans redouble their efforts, determined to liberate their country before the Soviets arrive.

Janek is overcome with optimism and makes plans to return to Lwów with Nina and continue his research. He finally decides to seek reconciliation with his family, to whom he will present his fiancée.

Janek’s hopes are shattered when he arrives and is immediately led to the bedside of his cancer-stricken father. Teresa ignores Nina and Stefan predicts the return of the Soviets and believes the rumors that the Western Powers will yield to Stalin’s desire to take Eastern Poland. The thought of "those bastard Soviet Neanderthals" enrages Teresa terribly. When Janek finally has a chance to announce the good news about his and Nina’s wedding, Irena breaks out in tears: "And what will become of me?" Teresa ignores the news and demands that Janek leave the forest and take care of his family at last. Janek takes Nina’s hand, calmly looks his mother straight in the eyes: "Nina is my family."

Janek and Nina marry in the forest a week later surrounded by their A.K. friends. Hania is the only family here; she has clashed with Teresa and, as a result, has been fired. Janek and Nina are happy, but are careful to avoid any family and future issues.

Newsreel Footage: Spring 1944, the Red Army advances into pre-WWII Polish territory and immediately sets up a Soviet administration. The Soviet authorities trick the Polish Home Army into cooperating with them. Their real aim is to disarm then and deport them to the gulags.

As the Soviets approach Lwów, Janek and Nina’s partisan detachment plan to slip through the front to continue fighting the Germans in central Poland. As they prepare to move westward, Janek is struck by guilt. The thought of never seeing his family again becomes unbearable. Suddenly he has had enough of fighting and fears that if they continue, they might die and forsake their future life. He pleads with Nina to return to Lwów where they will be relatively "safe" in the Soviet-occupied but still largely Polish city. At first Nina refuses and they fight bitterly.

But this changes when Nina's Uncle David returns from the Soviet gulag. Nina is overjoyed to have found a member of her family still alive. She immediately finds an empty apartment in Lwów where they can stay. At first, Janek is happy, since now he feels he is near his family if something happens. Nina spends most of her time with David. Janek tries to be understanding, but he feels her distance and demands to know what’s going on.

Finally Nina reveals what has been torturing her: She tells her husband that she can no longer live here. David has found a way of getting to America with the help of a Jewish refugee organization, but they have to act before the Soviets close the borders. Janek sees the ground under his feet disappear. He appeals to her feelings for her homeland, especially now, when they can rebuild a new and better Poland. She tells him sadly: "Lwów is no longer my home and Poland is no longer my homeland."

Newsreel Footage: The Soviets try to make sure that Lwów’s Polish inhabitants feel they are no longer welcome. They organize the so-called “repatriation” of Poles, which will resettle them in former German territories.

As a bombmaker, Janek is wanted by the NKVD. He realizes that he must leave Lwów. He hides in a friend’s apartment while Nina tries her best to organize the necessary papers.

One day Wanda finds him to tell him that partisans of Leszek’s detachment have fallen ill with typhus. Fearing for the life of his buddy Leszek and the others Janek immediately sends Nina to procure the vaccine from Weigl’s institute. Nina returns empty-handed and informs him that Weigl had left the city with the retreating Germans, for fear of the Russians. Only a woman, whose description matches that of Anna was working in the laboratory. After night falls, Janek sneaks into the institute and gets the vaccine from Anna, and for the first time he understands that her dedication to science and admires her courage to stay here all-alone.

Janek rejects all warnings and returns to the forest with Wanda. Never again will he let a friend die because of his selfishness. In a race against time and certain imprisonment by the NKVD, Janek nevertheless manages to get the vaccine to Leszek, his fighting companions and the villagers before an epidemic can break out.

On his way back, Nina surprises him with the news that they have only one hour to leave Lwów. Janek opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. He is forced to leave his home, without being able to say good-bye to his family.

Eva Szybalski © WGA 2002